6Hi Dana,

Try it the other way round, like I do after working with my Nick: I bow to him and thank him! Enjoy working with your horse!!

Youtube is great for things like that!!!!

Hi Dana
I taught my horse to bow with one leg forward and the other tucked under.
I did this with food, although Monty says never to feed by hand!!
I taught him by picking his front foot up and gently pulling it down and back with one hand and holding a piece of carrot with the other hand and guiding his head back. Eventually I could put his hoof down and he would kneel on it whilst still reaching his head round and back to get the carrot.
If you can make sense of what I've just typed give it a go! Youtube is definitely a good place to watch other people teach their horses tricks tho!!
Beth

I personally do not like circus tricks like bowing and so on. I feel it is undignified and disrespectful of the horse.I have seen many noble horses made to perform these kinds of movements on unsuitable terrain and by less than sober riders that I feel they are best to remain in the circus ring where at least there is sand .. Just my opinion.Rachel

Bowing is a great way to get your horse to stretch provided its done properly. I didnt have to teach my youngster anything he just did it one day while I was by his feet trying to see what I was doing but now he will do it if I have a small treat in my hand between is front legs.

Hello all
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I taught my horses to bow so that my kids could get on them bareback. It helps me too because I am short and not so flexible these days...
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Kind regards,
.
Gen

my horse bows but doesn't lay down yet however he is a bit of a pro at rearing with or without me :) i never make him do it with forse, it is simply small body movemtns accompanied with 3 clicks of yoru tounge and then the word 'up' but as you can see in my photo, he also does it with no tack at all, so is never made to do it what so ever :)

i think that some "tricks" are great, since i started teaching him he has become a lot more willing to do things such as load into the trailer - so in some cases, yes, i think that "tricks" are brilliant (though i wish there was a better word than trick for it haha)

Meg x

Meg, how did you teach him to rear? I think anything like this sort of training is bonding with your horse. Like Meg said, it's not like whipping them to do it.
I would love to learn to do tricks, especially useful ones like Gen said about getting on bareback. My boy is 17.3 so I need all the help I can get!

I didnt teach my stallion to rear, he just started to when I went to feed him one morning. It was like he was greeting me. I liked it so and told him that was beautiful, which it was, so he kept it up, and got to where he would rear if I just pointed my finger up. He never did it when I was on him. Only once was there ever a problem, if it was, he reared up very close to me when I said UP and it scared HIM, not me, so he always made sure he wasnt that close after that. I never MADE him do it, he just did. I was told I could break him of it, but since it wasnt hurting either of us and we both enjoyed it, I never tried, but if it had ever become a problem, I would have. With Phantom, all it would have taken to stop him was a firm no. So I didnt teach him to, I just encouraged him to. I dont know how a person would go about teaching that.

These so called "tricks" are great for a horse, it keeps them from getting bored and they learn to trust their leaders.
One way to teach a horse to "bow" is to put a slice of apple on the end of a stick and put it between their legs and as they reach for it pull the halter/lead rope towards the ground.
Another way is to tie the front foot with a rope, bring it up and around the middle of the horse's belly with the end in you hand.
DO NOT PULL and make sure the horse has excellent footing. slowly pull the rope and when they give a little, release.
When a horse learns to bow the head is down showing they trust you and it has a claming affect on them.
There is a great lesson on this on STACEY WESTFALL'S site. It does not hurt the horse and if you watch it you will see how gentle she is. The explaination is very detailed.

These so called "tricks" are great for a horse, it keeps them from getting bored and they learn to trust their leaders.
One way to teach a horse to "bow" is to put a slice of apple on the end of a stick and put it between their legs and as they reach for it pull the halter/lead rope towards the ground.
Another way is to tie the front foot with a rope, bring it up and around the middle of the horse's belly with the end in you hand.
DO NOT PULL and make sure the horse has excellent footing. slowly pull the rope and when they give a little, release.
When a horse learns to bow the head is down showing they trust you and it has a claming affect on them.
There is a great lesson on this on STACEY WESTFALL'S site. It does not hurt the horse and if you watch it you will see how gentle she is. The explaination is very detailed.

Check out Monty when he stretches horses with an apple on a stick - and then just have a party! You can connect a special word och sound to it and habituate him and then you got a bowing horse! Warmest Ann CI/Sweden